Of Sun & Moon (Midnight Guardian Series, Book 1)

by Bryna Butler

  ***

  After just ten days of recuperation, Keira was back to one hundred percent. She awoke as the sun peered through the blinds of her bedroom window. She spotted Colby sleeping on a bean bag chair in the corner. His mouth gaped open wide as he snored. She pulled a quilt over him, grabbed a change of clothes, and slipped out of the bedroom to take a shower and brush her teeth. She had already returned and was seated on the end of the bed when he stirred.

  “I think you can clock out now, Dr. Hayes,” Keira smirked. “I’m all better.”

  “You look great.”

  He just blurted it out without thinking. His cheeks turned red as his waking mind caught up with his mouth.

  “Really? Well, what can I say? It takes more than the supreme ruler of an ancient, evil empire to get me down,” she joked. She sounded like her old self.

  Colby joined her on the edge of the bed. His face was serious. “I guess you don’t need me anymore. I better get home.”

  She put a hand on his shoulder. “I’ll always need you,” she whispered. “Thank you.” She brushed her fingers on his cheek.

  “You’re welcome.”

  He jumped up and headed toward the exit. Just as Colby reached the bedroom door, he turned. Keira noticed his stop in her peripheral vision and looked up. He met her gaze and stood silent for a moment.

  “You remember the conversation we had…the one on the day you met your parents?” he asked.

  “Maybe.”

  She did. It was completely embarrassing. She had been scared and crazy with jealousy. She had told him that she loved him. She told him that she wanted him and he said nothing. She would never forget that day.

  He stared her down until she came forward with the truth. “Okay, okay, I remember, but I wish I could forget,” she finally admitted.

  “Well, I haven’t forgotten,” he said with a smirk. He walked out of the room and headed for the front door.

  Keira stepped after him. She reached to stop him and, forgetting her own strength, spun him completely around.

  “Whoa,” he countered. His arms were spread out to re-balance himself.

  Keira wrapped her fingers around his upper arms and looked into his eyes. It was then that she realized she had no idea what to say.

  He stood for a moment gazing back into her chocolate brown eyes. Then he laughed, “I can’t believe it…you’re….you’re speechless.”

  She dropped her hands and crossed them at her chest with a step back. “I am not speechless.”

  “Keira.”

  She took a half step forward, “Colby.”

  He took a half step forward, “Keira.”

  She put her hands on her hips in frustration, but he kept his gaze on her. He inched closer. His breath was steady. He leaned to her slowly. She closed her eyes.

  He brushed past her lips to her ear. Breathlessly, he whispered, “When I’m not with you, I feel broken and all I can think about is the next time that I’ll see you.”

  “Sounds familiar,” she said opening one eye.

  “Yeah, I heard that line before. It’s a little cheesy, but I’m thinking that cheese is probably a good way to sweep a tooth mouse off her feet.” He kissed her on the forehead and made his way to the front door.

  Shock. That’s the best way to describe it. She was in complete shock. She hadn’t seen this coming. She didn’t move a muscle or utter a word as he said goodbye to Nana and left. She didn’t know how she really felt about Colby now, after everything, but she would need to decide…soon.

  Once Colby closed the door behind him, Nana ushered Keira back to her bedroom for some rest before dinner. She was healed, but didn’t want to overdo it; so, she didn’t put up a fight. She entered her room and closed the door, pausing with her hand on the knob for a moment to take a deep breath.

  “I wish you no harm.” Someone rustled behind her.

  She spun around into a defensive posture. The sun was setting, streaming its last golden orange light into her darkened bedroom. There, standing by the head of her bed, was William. His hands were raised in the air, fingers spread, to show that he had no weapons. His hair was ruffled, clothes disheveled, and he looked as though he hadn’t shaved in days.

  “Talk fast,” she ordered. She reached for her dagger before realizing that she hadn’t strapped it back on after her shower.

  “Keira, please, it’s me.”

  “I don’t know you, mogdoc.” She eased along the wall to her dresser. The dagger, still in its sheath, lay in her view.

  He had seen the weapon and made no move to prevent her from retrieving it. He intentionally ignored her advance as he said to the floor, “This is what I know. You were one of four kids that the Emperor thought could be the guardian from the prophecy. He ordered me to get close to you so that he could discover the truth.”

  “And then your giant ego botched things up.” She picked up the dagger and pointed it toward him.

  “Is that what you think? I knew that I had to break it off. I knew it was you. You were always so protective of him and then that day, the day the police took him, you pushed me.” He couldn’t look at her. He closed his eyes, summoning the memory of that day. “You were so strong, that’s when it all clicked.”

  Keira pretended not to care about what he was saying. She stood frozen against the wall. “If you really knew, then why didn’t your Daddy just come and get me? Why did you dump me?”

  He pleaded, “Listen to what I’m saying. How can you not understand? Can’t you see? I love you. I told them that it wasn’t you. I stayed away to protect you.”

  Keira huffed. Why did everyone think they had to abandon her to protect her? Then it all became very clear. He must know what her parents did. He would know how to use that information to further his own agenda. Now, Keira was not angry, she was mad. He was a mogdoc. Mogdocs don’t love. They plot. They manipulate. They lie.

  “I can’t believe that you controlled my emotions like that. You made me believe that I…” Her eyes narrowed on him. “Get out of my house.” With that, the last bit of sun disappeared under the horizon.

  “No, that’s the other thing. I couldn’t calm you down. I thought you liked me because I was willing it, but when the police took Colby, I couldn’t calm you. I know because I tried. I really, really tried and it didn’t work. My power doesn’t work on guardians.” In the darkness, he rushed to her with inhuman speed. Standing before her, he whispered, “Think about it, if I could control your emotions, we would be holding each other and I would be kissing you softly right now.”

  Keira trembled with anger and fear. “Get…out…now…”

  “Please, I didn’t know about their plan to capture you and Colby. I rushed to you as soon as I found out.”

  “Now!”

  “I saved your life,” he reasoned. “I disobeyed my father. I fought my big sister. That has to mean something to you.”

  She pushed him back with the dagger. “Your big sis? She’s my age. Are you lying about the little things now too?”

  “She was already masquerading as a human. I guess she thought, why not be a younger human. Yes, she really is that vain.”

  He pulled back to sit again on the edge of the bed. He laughed despite himself and took that same old shy look to the ground. It used to make her smile when he did that, now it just hurt. He was trying to be lovable; still she knew he couldn’t be trusted. Though he was right about one thing; he saved her life. Broo would have killed her if he hadn’t stepped in.

  She lowered her dagger a few inches. “Listen, I haven’t told the others about you. Consider that repayment for saving my life. We are even. I never want to see you again.”

  “So, you’re protecting me?”

  “No, I’m repaying a life debt. Consider it paid in full.”

  “Keira, I know I’ve had to lie to you. But what we had was real. You and I are one and the same. I’ve loved you since our first date. You know that. Please remember.”


  She remembered loving him. It was painful to remember. She felt her spirit die a little on the day of that ill-fated Christmas shopping trip. A little more died the day she heard Brooke call him brother. But, a thought kept trotting through her head. Could she trust her feelings? She was half human. Maybe he had at least some power over her. She pushed everything down so that it burned in her stomach. He would not control her now. She wouldn’t let him. Her voice was sharp and cold. Her words, so cruel, that they left a bad taste in her mouth. “Go back to your cave, mogdoc.”

  “I can’t, not without your help.”

  “Right and why would I help you, William, or whatever your name is?”

  “My name is Brun Gammen, true Emperor of the Mogdoc Empire, and I need you to fulfill your destiny.”

  “No, these are just more lies. Gammen named Brooke as his successor. I heard it myself.”

  “He was wrong. He knew that the title passes to the eldest male, not to his precious little princess. She was always his favorite.”

  “No.” Keira couldn’t believe what she was hearing. She didn’t want to hear it.

  “Keira, please, Broo’s trying to contest my crown. The Sect was present during father’s declaration, so they have sworn their allegiance to her. While they aren’t blood royals, their influence carries much weight. Keira, I can’t let her take over. I’ve spent too much time living as a human. I can’t go back to the way things have always been. I have a responsibility to teach my people that there is a better way.”

  Even though his words were persuasive, Keira hung tight to a single truth. Mogdocs are master manipulators. He had another agenda and she could see it peeking through his words.

  “So you want me to get her out of the way for you? What’s wrong? Don’t want to get your hands dirty, your highness? I won’t be your hired gun.”

  “I’m not asking you to kill my sister. I’m asking you to use the human gift. Take me down too. I don’t need to be ruler; I just need the crown out of her reach. When she and the Sect are gone, then I can bring peace between humans and mogdocs and we can be together.”

  “Together? You’re insane. That’s not going to happen.”

  “You and I are meant to be together. I know this. I know it with all my soul.”

  “Just stop it! Stop it! You don’t have a soul.”

  “I do, but it’s lost without you.”

  “Oh, please. Was that supposed to sound romantic?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  Keira, tired of the lies and grand romantic pretenses, had finally reached her limit. She raised her dagger.

  “There is no truth in this room right now. Look at you. You come to me, hiding in the shadows, disguised as human, whispering lies with a forked tongue, telling me what you think I want to hear. You may look like someone I once loved, but you are a savage, revolting mogdoc. I will NEVER forget that. The William that I knew…”

  He swept behind her in the blink of an eye. Wrapping his arms around her tightly, he whispered in her ear, “The William you love…”

  That was the wrong thing to say. She pulled the dagger above her shoulder to his throat. “Just try me, mogdoc. You think I loved you? I loved William, but it doesn’t matter. He never really existed.”

  She took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. “Get out and don’t come back,” she growled, yet her bottom lip was quivering.

  “Make no mistake; I will not let you forget. You are mine.”

  He sniffed her hair. It smelled of honeysuckle shampoo and reminded him of the gazebo from their first date. He clenched his jaw as he let go and lifted his left hand to slice a tear in reality. He stepped into it and disappeared.

  Keira collapsed on the bed. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t breathe. Were his last words a plea or a threat? Was he lying? Did it matter? Regardless, he still risked his family and position to save her life. He probably jeopardized everything just to come to her tonight. Beyond it all, she knew he was right. Despite everything, she still loved him.